


tender loving care

by DeepWithinTartarus



Category: Shin Megami Tensei: Devil Summoner
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-26
Updated: 2017-11-26
Packaged: 2019-02-07 07:57:29
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12836715
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DeepWithinTartarus/pseuds/DeepWithinTartarus
Summary: Raidou’s uniform jacket is open compared to how he usually wears it, blood smeared across his shirt and chest underneath where the material is ripped. His cape looks like it’s been attacked by dogs or some sort of animal -- most likely a demon -- and his hat is askew atop his head.“Sorry, Raidou,” Gouto sighs, moving away from his feet back towards the door, “I’ll leave you to Narumi.”





	tender loving care

**Author's Note:**

  * For [yumizuki](https://archiveofourown.org/users/yumizuki/gifts).



The pitter-patter sound of the rain against the window is surprisingly relaxing to listen to as Narumi sits there at his desk, enjoying a recently brewed cup of coffee. It's a slow evening with Raidou still out on a job, but the newspaper laid out on the desk keeps him entertained for the time being; another two-page spread from their own Tae "Kichou" Asakura on a recently closed case they solved. It's a fully fleshed out article that no one who picks up the paper could ignore. Tae deserves the recognition.  
  
"Attagirl..." Narumi smiles to himself, swivelling around in his chair to look out the window.  
  
The streetlights outside are rather dim and the weather makes it such a gloomy looking night, but it's easy enough to make out the shapes of people walking by in the streets, shadows visible underneath the spotlights every now and then. Narumi's never cared for people watching before, but he can sort of see the appeal.  
  
_Hmm?_  
  
A certain caped figured with a hat catches his eye as he notices they're limping as they walk. Narumi stands from his seat and walks over to the window, opening it slightly to peer outside and catch a better glimpse of who it is; Raidou, along with Gouto following beside his feet. He watches them both carefully, noticing Gouto has a small limp when he moves his back legs. It's been a long while since he's seen the both of them in not exactly tip-top shape, and he only hopes it's just a limp for the both of them and not anything serious.  
  
Narumi moves back to sit in his chair, resting his legs on the table as he finishes reading the paper. The last thing Raidou needs is him fussing over him too much. Narumi's feet bounce on the floor underneath his desk as he waits patiently for their arrival, his eyes watching the clock on the wall. In a matter of minutes, he should hear footsteps from the hallway outside. _Any second now._  
  
Even with a limp and a few scratches, it shouldn't take them this long to walk through the door. Narumi rubs at his face.  
  
_Must have been a harder fight than usual..._  
  
"Excuse us," Narumi's eyes quickly shoot from the clock to the door as soon as he hears the tired words from his apprentice, and his body is quick to follow as he all but jumps out of his seat and rushes to Raidou's side, propping his arm over his shoulder, "Narumi-san, I'm fine..."  
  
"Like hell you are, kid," Narumi sighs as he helps him into the room and over to the couch, "Don't move a muscle. We’re going to clean those wounds and bandage you up.”  
  
Raidou’s uniform jacket is open compared to how he usually wears it, blood smeared across his shirt and chest underneath where the material is ripped. His cape looks like it’s been attacked by dogs or some sort of animal -- most likely a demon -- and his hat is askew atop his head.  
  
“Sorry, Raidou,” Gouto sighs, moving away from his feet back towards the door, “I’ll leave you to Narumi.”  
  
Raidou nods and watches him leave through the small gap before the door closes properly, glad that his mentor didn’t end up in a state similar to himself.  
  
He’d already sacrificed himself once and came back, but Raidou wasn’t prepared to see that happen again.  
  
"What was it this time?" Narumi asks, crossing the room into the kitchen in a couple of strides. He reaches up into one of the cupboards, grabbing a box with first aid supplies. Before returning to Raidou, he picks up a bowl and places it under the sink, letting lukewarm water run for a while. Once halfway full, he grabs a towel and slings it over his arm, holding the bowl with both hands whilst the first aid box rests under his arm.  
  
"Kumbhanda," Raidou answers once Narumi is back in front of him, reaching out to take the first aid box from him so that he can place the bowl of water on the floor more easily, "Six ambushed us. We were on our way to buy more healing supplies. It was... difficult."  
  
Narumi nods, pretending he knows what a Kumbhanda is, "Not a friendly demon, I take it?"  
  
"No."  
  
Raidou shrugs off his jacket, letting it fall off his shoulders and onto the couch. There's more blood on his shirt than he first realised, judging by the way Narumi's eyes widen. He bites his lip.  
  
"Narumi-san, I'm--"  
  
"If you say "fine" one more time, Raidou," Narumi shakes his head and lets out a heavy sigh, dipping the towel in the water, "I need you to take off your shirt. Think you could do that for me?"  
  
Raidou lifts his arms slowly, carefully, and winces as soon as his elbows are up in line with his shoulders. He's bruised all over his upper body and it hurts too much to move any further. During the fight he had been running on adrenaline, but now his muscles were seizing up, making his body feel tight and severely uncomfortable.  
  
Narumi almost laughs, but catches himself before he does so. "I'm going to remove your shirt for you, just say if you'd like me to stop at any point." he holds his hands up and waits for Raidou's permission before continuing. As soon as he nods, he begins unbuttoning the top buttons of his shirt.  
  
The first time he ever laid eyes upon Raidou, he thought it odd that the Herald of Yatagarasu would send someone with such a slim physique to protect the capital. Narumi often compared Raidou to a twig in his mind back then, he was so thin looking that if he was ever in a real fight, Narumi feared he'd be snapped in two.  
  
His thoughts were quickly proven to be incorrect once he saw Raidou prove himself and what he was capable of, during a misunderstanding at a bar of all things. Said misunderstanding had been between Narumi and a gentleman who was loudly, and aggressively, shouting and waving a bottle in his face about Narumi owing him money. Whilst his finances were poor in comparison to others, it had been a blatant lie; the man was chancing his arm, but Raidou had been quick to notice the man's following movements to prevent him from laying a finger on his new boss. Before the man had a chance to swing his arm down to crash the bottle against Narumi's head, Raidou had incapacitated him in a matter of seconds.  
  
It all happened in a blur to Narumi. One moment he was scrunching his eyes shut, bracing himself for impact, but when no pain registered in his brain and he opened his eyes again, Raidou had pinned the man, -- who was at least double the size and weight of him, if not more -- down on the floor.  
  
He had never questioned the summoner's strength since.  
  
"Lean forward slightly," Narumi instructs Raidou to move, and once he does he's able to remove his shirt completely, "There we go... Ah."  
  
Raidou's completely black and blue from the chest downwards, not just covered in blood, and Narumi finds himself wincing though he's not the one in pain. _Kumbhanda, huh._ What he wouldn't do to be able to see demons himself just to give them a piece of his mind. He picks up the towel that's in the water, rinsing it out so it's not completely soaked, and proceeds to place it against Raidou's lower abdomen cautiously.  
  
Raidou, against his own wishes, let's out a strangled gasp. He bites his lip, internally cursing himself. Narumi clears his throat, looking down.  
  
"Seems like it's mostly dry blood and no wounds are open. You have very skilled demons working with you, Raidou. Make sure to send them my thanks as well."  
  
With a smile, Narumi looks up and continues to wipe the blood off his skin, making a conscious effort to be as gentle as he possibly can. Raidou is no doll, but this evening it is better to treat him as if he were a figure made of porcelain so that Narumi does not aggravate his wounds further.  
  
Raidou is no twig either, for Narumi can feel his toned muscles against his hand even underneath the towel. He tries to imagine the Kuzunoha trials, as he had been told of them once before, but even after everything they've been through, Narumi can't quite believe it. _Brought back just to be killed off by the spirits of the former summoners? That doesn't sit right with me..._  Raidou was alive and well, yet knowing what he _could_ go through if he ever failed the trials or his mission, well... it made Narumi's blood boil.  
  
"Narumi-san..." Raidou's voice is soft, the quietest it's ever been, "I think that area is clean now."  
  
Narumi blinks and stares, his hand unmoving from where it rests on Raidou's stomach, the towel having fallen onto his lap. A heavy silence befalls them both, it's not awkward, but there's something about it that causes Narumi to suck in a breath. He sighs, and lightly rubs his thumb against Raidou's skin. "Bandages..." he murmurs, pulling his hands away completely.  
  
Even with all the bruises and cuts, Raidou's skin is incredibly soft, more-so than a dame's. It's unfair, he thinks, to be that lucky; his own skin suffers during the winter months, yet here Raidou is as soft as a newborn baby.  
  
Narumi unravels the bandages, resting on his knees now to move himself closer between Raidou's legs so he can get to work. Raidou keeps his arms elevated whilst Narumi wraps it around his lower abdomen, tight but not too tight, and he finishes in a matter of minutes. Narumi attempts to move back once he's tucked and pinned the last part near Raidou's hip, but he's stopped from doing so.  
  
Raidou grips onto the hand hovering by his waist and holds it there. _A bold move._ Narumi swallows and licks his lips. Raidou's skin is now covered by the bandages, but Narumi can still feel the bump underneath his fingers where his hips are as he tries to move his hand down and away from the hold, to no avail. He stops his hand there, looking up into Raidou's eyes and notices a light in them he's not seen before.  
  
Raidou bites his bottom lip and then takes a deep breath, "I--"  
  
"Well..." Narumi clears his throat, "You really know how to worry a man, Raidou. Imagine if you had a doll of your own waiting for you here instead of me, seeing you like this would leave the poor girl in pieces."  
  
"That's not possible, Narumi-san. You know that..."  
  
_Ah, right._ He did. Raidou had confided in him as much. As a summoner, he had no time to be chasing romance, yet given the chance Raidou would still turn such a thing down. _"I have no interests in women, Narumi-san."_ Raidou had said at the time; it took another three times of it being said that Narumi finally got the picture. He wasn't turning down a chance for a date, but turning down his chances of being with a woman full stop. Raidou, he finally understood, played for a completely different team altogether. _"Times are changing,"_ Narumi patted him on the shoulder that day, a warm and accepting smile on his face, _"You don't have to worry about me treating you any differently."_  
  
"Yes, of course."  
  
Narumi links his fingers with Raidou's and the grasp on his hand loosens, though neither pulls away. Raidou's hands are cut to pieces too, not as soft as the rest of his skin, but warm and perfect all the same. Narumi wonders if he'd be able to let go at all after this.  
  
"Narumi-san. I know you said you would not treat me differently, however..." his words die on his tongue, unable to be spoken. Raidou was never a man of many words to begin with, but his mouth is dry and he can feel the sweat on his brow. Perhaps he was coming down with an illness of sorts.  
  
"Raidou," Narumi says, low and clear, reaching out with his free hand to cup Raidou's cheek, "Never had a lover before, have you?"  
  
Raidou shakes his head slowly, fidgeting where he sits, and offers a smile that fades all too quickly. He looks down, hiding behind his hat, and Narumi has the urge to swat it off of his head completely. Instead, he let's go of Raidou's cheek and removes his hat in a normal fashion, placing it on the seat beside him.  
  
The absence of Narumi's hand on his cheek, Raidou realises, makes him feel far too cold.  
  
"Would you," Narumi begins but stops, scraping a hand through his hair with a shaky breath, "Are you completely sure you'd be happy with someone like me? I'm not the greatest catch out there, Raidou. Oh, but if Tae asks, she doesn't need to know I admit to that. I'm the bee's knees, got it?"  
  
Raidou looks back up and laughs, _really_ laughs, and all the tension between them starts to slip away, little by little. It's not often that Narumi hears a sound like that come from Raidou's lips, if at all, and it's the most beautiful thing he's ever heard in his entire life. If that laugh was the last thing he heard before he died? Well, he'd be completely fine with that.  
  
"Understood, Narumi-san, and... Yes. I'd be happy, if... you were to indulge my wishes."  
  
_Oh, I'd be more than happy to do that for you._ Narumi's hand clenches briefly, then releases and reaches back up to cup Raidou's cheek as he did before. Raidou leans into the touch, and he parts his lips. Had Raidou always looked this beautiful to him? _Probably._ His eyes are shining in a way that he's never seen before, softening, and Narumi's breath hitches.  
  
_I'm in love._ Maybe he'd been in love for a while, his concern for his apprentice had surpassed that of what was considered normal. Some nights he hardly slept, thinking of all the different things that could go wrong for the summoner when he was out fighting God-knows-what. _What if he never came back and I can't hold him the way I long to?_ Narumi flushes at his thoughts and is strongly aware of his own heartbeat. _Enough is enough._  
  
"Anything for you, Raidou, anything at all..." Narumi faces him straight on, moving closer to erase the distance between them, and closes the gap between Raidou's lips and his own.  
  
Raidou's hold on his hand loosens completely, and he takes the opportunity to slip his away to hold both of his cheeks. Raidou responds immediately by placing his own atop Narumi's, urging him to move as close to Raidou as possible. Narumi all but obliges while deepening the kiss, pushing his body upwards and forward, pressing right against Raidou's chest.  
  
"Narumi-san...!" Raidou pulls away abruptly, pushing Narumi back. His eyes are glossed over, yet he's wincing, and Narumi snaps out of his delirious state in an instant.  
  
Raidou's clutching his chest with a pained expression, and... _Oh._  
  
"Sorry," Narumi chuckles, admiring Raidou's plump and bruised-looking lips, "Maybe we should postpone this until your body is healed. Wouldn't want to make it worse. Right, "lover"?"  
  
Raidou coughs and hides his face behind his hand, "That would be for the best."  
  
The dishevelled look suits Raidou, if you asked Narumi, though he wouldn't wish for anyone else to see him as he is right now. Narumi strokes his own throat and feels his pulse throbbing. He more than likely looks a right state himself. _We sure are a pair._  
  
He'd waited this long, and now that they were officially together, he could wait a while longer.  
  
_We have all the time in the world._


End file.
